


She Doesn't Usually Cry

by Blurple_bird_human



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Season 3, they're so sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29812902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blurple_bird_human/pseuds/Blurple_bird_human
Summary: Artemis has a bad mission, Conner knows how to help. Or at least, how to try to.
Relationships: Artemis Crock & Kon-El | Conner Kent
Kudos: 9





	She Doesn't Usually Cry

**Author's Note:**

> I'm formerly @aboredwriter on here, and that's still my name on tumblr!! I had a password-related mess and can't access that account. I thought I'd put that out.

"That bad, huh?" Conner said, watching Artemis slump over his kitchen table.

"Yeah," She muttered.

"Tell me about it."

"Not right now."

" _Yes,_ right now," He said, flailing. He regretted it after a second, watching Artemis flinch so hard the chair jerked backwards. Quieting down, he said, "...while it's still fresh."

Artemis deflated where she sat. "I was driving this rental car, getting chased by some...I don't even know who our bad guy is, I honestly don't, Kon. He's just...he's...he had an accomplice, and we thought the accomplice was _him_ , so we had no info on this guy. I decided to swerve the car into a lake...it was stupid, I know, but...there was no other choice, y'know? I had no other way of getting him off me, and I knew I'd never be able to take him without backup. But he caught up with some other car on the road. I got trapped in my car by the airbags and..." She paused, putting both her hands over her mouth, swallowing back tears, "this mother was with her kid and...he dragged her out the car window and he... _her kid was right there,_ and I couldn't get to her--and the way Green Lantern looked at me...they all blame me, Kon."

"No, they don't. You know that. Come on."

"I know they do!" She said, so loud that it was Kon's turn to flinch, slamming her fist into the table. "I know they do."

Conner knew better than to argue with her. Not yet, anyway. She was too fired up, and it was _definitely_ partially his own fault. 

"I'm sorry," She said after a brief moment of silence, "I shouldn't have snapped at you." 

"It's fine, I had _Brion_ in my house for months, remember?" He smirked, setting down a mug of tea in front of her that was _definitely_ too hot to drink and _definitely_ not done steeping properly. He sat down across from her, pulling her hands away from her face. Part of it was to comfort her but...he had seen her dig her nails into her face enough times to make him worry about it. 

Artemis rarely fell apart. He hadn't seen her like this in...well, since Wally. However long that had been. He'd stopped keeping track.

So today must've been _especially_ horrible to get her like this. 

"It wasn't your fault."

"I should've gotten there sooner," She said, biting back a sob that ended up becoming a wail anyway, "I should've gotten there! He was _right there!_ Right there! _Inches from my head!_ I swear, I reached for her! I did!" 

She was starting to pull away from him, backing away like she'd vanish into the chair as she ranted things that would only make sense to her. 

"Hey, hey," He said, trying to maneuver himself so he could get closer to her so that he didn't have to let go of her hands. He crouched in front of her, putting one hand under her chin so she would look at him. "It's over, okay? It's okay, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, you know that. It's over. It wasn't your fault."

He wrapped her arms around his own waist and put one hand over the back of her head, setting her face down in the crook of his neck while she trembled and sobbed. For a brief second, he wondered if she'd ever lift her head back up. Artemis didn't _cry--_ she sulked, she raged, she talked to herself, she fidgeted, but she didn't _cry._ To get her to this point...he could only imagine what she must've experienced. 

It'd take a while for her to recover from tonight, he realized.


End file.
